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Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 (No. 27)Introductory TextActs Referred toPart 1 Preliminary and General (ss. 1-8)1. Short title and commencement.2. Interpretation.3. Regulations.4. Laying of orders and regulations before Houses of Oireachtas.5. Expenses of Minister.6. Prosecution of offences.7. Offences by bodies corporate.8. Penalties.Part 2 Legal Recognition and Non-Discrimination in respect of Electronic Signatures, Originals, Contracts and Related Matters (ss. 9-28)Legal Recognition of Electronic Communications and Information in Electronic Form (ss. 9-23)9. Electronic form not to affect legal validity or enforceability.10. Excluded laws.11. Certain laws not to be affected.12. Writing.13. Signatures.14. Signatures required to be witnessed.15. Consumer law to apply.16. Documents under seal.17. Electronic originals.18. Retention and production.19. Contracts.20. Acknowledgement of receipt of electronic communications.21. Time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic communications.22. Admissibility.23. Defamation law to apply.General (ss. 24-28)24. Electronic form not required.25. Prohibition of fraud and misuse of electronic signatures and signature creation device.26. Activities partly outside the State.27. Investigative procedures.28. Confidentiality of deciphering data.Part 3 Certification Services (ss. 29-30)29. Accreditation and supervision of certification service providers.30. Liability of certification service providers.Part 4 Registration of Domain Names (ss. 31-35)31. Interpretation: Part 4.32. Registration of '.ie' domain names.33. Commission may impose levy.34. Commission to have access to domain database.35. Power of Commission to designate interim registration authority.Schedule - Annexes to Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community Framework for Electronic SignaturesSchedule, Annex I Requirements for qualified certificatesSchedule, Annex II Requirements for certification-service-providers issuing qualified certificatesSchedule, Annex III Requirements for secure signature-creation devices
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Version status: | Document consolidation status: Updated to reflect all known changes
Version date: 10 July 2000 - onwards

Introductory Text

Number 27 of 2000

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE LEGAL RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC CONTRACTS, ELECTRONIC WRITING, ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES AND ORIGINAL INFORMATION IN ELECTRONIC FORM IN RELATION TO COMMERCIAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS AND DEALINGS AND OTHER MATTERS, THE ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE IN RELATION TO SUCH MATTERS, THE ACCREDITATION, SUPERVISION AND LIABILITY OF CERTIFICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS AND THE REGISTRATION OF DOMAIN NAMES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS.

[10th July, 2000]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

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